How does the Explorer SE handle real dry soil?

[kickback]

I'm curious as to how Explorers do in dry soil.I live in Montana and the ground has been powder dry for over a month.My F 75 can't seem to handle the dry soil plus mineralization.I've been wanting an Explorer for sometime.I just might have to try one.Thanks. Bill

 

[DukeOBass]

Funny you should ask. I was just running mine last evening in bone dry ground and was hearing signals I hadn't heard before. Granted I just dug junk but, it was pinpoint accurate.

 

[Nick A]

Bone dry here right now. Too hard to dig and you'll kill the grass for sure. I've been out though. My take on it is this... it still hits the good stuff. I got some deep dimes... 1902 and 1912 last week. The signals were iffy to good (but that's what I am usually digging anyway). But my impression was that the signals were not as broad or long, rather short and sharp, if that makes sense. So, you gotta go slow, really slow, as that deep dime signal is a lot smaller now than it would be if the ground were wet. Either way, there is DEFINITELY a difference in detecting dry ground over wet. The other thing I noticed is that iron seems to sound better... I was not digging any iron of significance when we had wetter ground. Now that it is bone dry, the iron sounds better and I've dug more iron than I would like.

 

[treasurefiend]

I find that my SE works a lot better in bone dry conditions compaired to wet conditions. But that just my opinion.

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

n/t

 

[DukeOBass]

n/t

 

[NealNoIN]

I think the dry ground helps in some ways. It tones down the iron and minerals and helps with separation a little and I think you do hear stuff you might not in wet ground. But, the wet ground really helps you hear the deeper signals. I doubt you'll ever find an 11 inch dime in bone dry ground.
JMHO
HH
Neal

 

[Charles (Sabre)(Tx)]

It's bone dry here too (South Texas) and there is definitely a difference when the soil is wetter...however, too wet and my SE doesn't perform as well. I've always noticed that the prime hunting soil conditions was about 3 days after a good heavy rain. Maybe this gives the moisture plenty of time to seep down deep into the soil's lower layers. I pretty much exclusively use the Coiltek Joey and these are my findings. Maybe it will be somewhat different if and when I try hunting with some of the newer type coils like the SEF and Pro series?

Charles

 

[Ray-Mo.]

I am very impressed with the way mine with the new Pro coil is doing in the dry hard soil.It seems to false on iron a lot less to or I am getting better at hearing the difference.At any rate I am not digging near as many old cut nails almost zero.I lived in Columbia Falls 1997-1999 by the way and would still be there except for aging parents and in-laws,Ray.

 

[mastereagle22]

I find that my Explorer does not get as deep as it does in moist soil. I also find the smart display and digital display does not always match the sounds the machine makes.

Usually I can tell when I find a wheat penny but I find in dry ground the signal is shifted to the left a little.

Still finding stuff just have to work a little harder.

 

[Dman]

Its very dry here in Tennessee. I dug a mercury dime at 9 inches yesterday in really dry conditions. I have only had my SE for 3 months and it does fine in dry Tennessee soil.
Dman

 

[digitrich]

I believe the moisture content of the soil helps the conductivity of the soil to "carry" and increases the penetration of the signals from the machine. Some mineralization (on the salt side, not iron) combined with good moisture will give you unbelievable depth. The same as some beaches. And all though the lack of moisture will rob some of your depth, it also stops the iron mineralization from over whelming your machine to a certain degree. Some guys will swear that the silver signals seem to "pop" out in dry conditions and are easier to hear. So a drought gives you an awesome time to experiment with much larger coils that you normally couldn't use in such highly mineralised soils and also might give an opportunity to go back to some iron infested sites. In that situation though it is important to turn your gain down to at least seven and probably run in auto sensitivity to reduce false signals. Dry, "irony" soil seems to cause lots of falsing, but so does extremely saturated soils with too large a coil. Dry soil can be overcome by using larger coils and tweaking your settings, wet soil can be over come by using smaller coils and tweaking your settings. The problem with soils is that there are so many different variables, moisture is just one of them and the easiest to identify, it is hard to go out with one set strategy. A quick rule of thumb is if you aren't getting coins or quality targets at 8 inches, you need to adjust your settings and/or change coils until you do. There are some sites that are so dry and so mineralised that you might max out at 6 inches depth, but many another brand of machine will either max out at 4 inches depth or just not work, period. In your soil, in it's drought state, maybe the ML won't help you much without knowing how to tweak and push it, that's difficult for the "experts" never mind a guy just opening a box. Your other option is to try and hunt in long grass areas or forest canopy, where the soils will have a tad bit more moisture than the unshaded areas of a park.